Mechanism for feeding can ends.



I. P. WARME.

MECHANISM FOR FEEDING CAN ENDS.

APPLICATION FILED DEC 17 1910.

1,092,613. I I Patented Apr.7, 1914.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 1.

COLUMBIA PLANOGRAPH 60., WASHINGTON. D. C.

I. F. WARME.

MECHANISM FOR FEEDING CAN ENDS; APPLIOATION FILED 10110.17, 1910.

1,0925 1 3 Patented Apr. 7, 1914.

JfiHEETS-SHEET 2.

IVAR F. WARME, OF SYRACUSE, NEW YCRK, ASSIGNOR, BY MESNE ASSIGNMENTS, TOCONTINENTAL CAN COMPANY, INC., A CORPORATION OF NEW YORK.

MECHANISM FOR FEEDING CAN ENDS.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Application filed December 17, 1910.

Patented Apr. "Z, 1914..

Serial No. 597,786.

To all whom it may concern:

Be 1t known that I, IVAR F. TARME, a.

improvements in mechanism for feeding can anlsm.

ends.

An object of the invention is to provide A further object of theinvention is to? provide means for holding a stack of can ends andfeeding the same one by one there from, which means may be readilyadjusted for different sized can ends.

These and other objects will in part be obvious, and will in part behereinafter more fully disclosed.

In the drawings which show by way of illustration one embodiment of myinvention,F1gure 1 shows a double-seaming machine having my improved endfeeding. mechanism applied thereto; Fig. 2 is a verti- 1 cal sectionthrough the can end feeding mechanism; Fig. 3 is a horizontal sectionalview on the line 3-3 of Fig. 2; Fig. 4 is a plan view of the supportingand separating device; Fig. 5 is an edge view, looking in the directionof the arrow 5; Fig. 6 is an edge view, looking in the direction of thearrow.

6; Fig. 7 is a detail-showing one of the spacing devices used inadjusting the stack holder; Fig. 8 is a detail view, showing the lowerend separated from the stack; and Fig. 9 is a similar view, showing thelower end released and dropping into the conveyer, which leads to themachine.

In Fig. 1 I have shown more or less diagrammatically a double-seamingmachine, which consists of a supporting base 1 on which is mounted arotating carrier 2, which rotating carrier is provided with a pluralityof pairs of rotating chucks 3, adapted to engage a can body and can endand to rotate the same. On the carrier is also mounted a plurality ofdouble-seaming rolls, which engage and form the Seam between the can endand can body. The can bodies are fed from a conveyor 4 into pocketsformed in the rotating support, where the can body is temporarily helduntil engaged by the rotatmg chucks. The carrier is rotated by a gear 5from a gear 6 on the main shaft.

The mechanism above described forms no part of the present invention,but has been described as the desired type of machine to which mycan-end-feeding mechanism is to be applied, and further to aid in aclear understanding of the can-endfeeding mech- Mounted on a standardrising from the frame of the machine 1 is a bracket 7. Said bracket isformed with a horizontally extending portion 8, in which is formed anopening 9 slightly larger than the largest can end desired to be fed toan operating machine. Rising from the supporting bracket 7 are fourstandards 10, 11, 12 and 13. These standards are located in recesses 10,11, 12 and 18, respectively, formed in the side wall of the opening 9 inthe bracket 7 The standards 10, 11 and 12 are rigidly secured to thebracket by suitable screws 14.. The standard 13 is secured to thebracket 7 by a bolt 15. This standard 13 may be secured directly againstthe bracket 7, or a spacing washer 16 may be inserted between thestandard and the bracket, in order to rigidly hold said standard in aposition removed from the bracket, and closer to the standard 11. Whenthe spacing washer is omitted, then the standards carried by the bracketare so positioned as to form an opening or space between the same ofsubstantially the same size as the opening 9 in the bracket. Thesestandards are for the purpose of directing and supporting a verticalcolumn or stack of can ends laid one on the other. At the lower end ofthe standard 13 is a tapered lug 17, which is held thereon by a bolt 18.This tapered lug 18 extends beyond the edge of the standard 13, and thecan ends at the lower end of the column or stack will rest at one sideon said tapered lug. At the other side of the bracket, I have provided arotating separator 19. Said rotating separator 19 is rigidly secured tothe upper end of the shaft 20, which is geared to the shaft 21, and saidlatter shaft is in turn geared to the gear 6, which rotates the carrierof the double-seaming machine. As the double-seaming machine carrierrotates, the separating device will be caused through the intermediateshaft connections to rotate in proper timing therewith. Said separatingdevice 19 is preferably made of cast iron, and is formed with asupporting ledge 20, which extends only a portion of the way around theseparating device, thus leaving a space or cut-away portion 21, which asherein shown extends through an arc of substantially 90. This supportingledge 20 extends beyond the inside edge of the standard 11, and,therefore, lies in the path of the stack of can ends, so that said canends rest on said ledge. In order that the lower can end of the stackmay be separated from the remainder of the ends and released, I haveprovided a separating plate 22, which is preferably made of hardenedsteel. The upper face of the separating device is formed with a recessto receive said hardened plate, which is attached in the recess bysuitable screws 23. Said plate at its forward end relative to thedirection of rotation, projects substantially in a radial direction, asat 24, over the supporting ledge 20. Said radially projecting edge istapered or sharpened, so as to form a thin cutting edge, which will withcertainty extend between the can ends resting one. upon another, andlift the stack from the lowermost end, so that the weight of the stackwill be taken from said lowermost end on to the separating plate 22. Thelowermost end will, therefore, pass underneath the separating plate 22,and as soon as the cut-away portion 21 in the separating clevice passesunderneath the released lower can end, then the side of the can endadjacent the separating device will drop, as indicated in Fig. 9, whilethe opposite edge of the can end will be held temporarily upon thetapered supporting lug 17, until said can end swings aroundsubstantially to a vertical position, when said opposite edge will bereleased and the can end will drop. The supporting bracket 7 is providedwith a tapered section 25, which tends to guide the can end and carrythe same to a vertical position in the conveying slot 26, which leads tothe double-seaming machine. By forming the plate 22 as a separatesection, I am able to make the same of hardened steel, and to quicklyremove and replace the same when said plate becomes worn. F urthermore,by forming the plate 22 with a substantially radially projectingseparating edge, I have formed a separating edge which will positivelyenter in between the can ends and separate the same. ,The supportingplate 22 is arranged in a horizontal plane, while the supporting ledge20 is also arranged in a horizontalplane at a slight distance below theplate 22. It will be seen, therefore, that when the can ends in thestack are resting on the supporting ledge 20,

they will be in a substantially horizontal position. IVhen theseparating plate enters beextending body portion 27, and the end thereofadjacent the space 22 is tapered as at 28. This tapered face extendsupward across the space between the plate 22 and the supporting ledge20, so that when the lowermost can end is separated from the stack, iffor any reason it fails to drop when the supporting ledge passes fromunderneath the same, the tapered face 28 will engage said released canend and force the same from the stack,

so that it will drop from the feeding device.

While I have shown my device as applied to a double-seaming machine, itis obvious that said feeding device may be used in connection wit-hmachines of other types, and it is also obvious that said feeding deviceas set forth in the appended claims, may be used for feeding flat disksof any character, and that my invention is not limited to the feeding ofcan ends. It is also obvious that minor changes in the details ofconstruction and arrangement of parts may be made, without departingfrom the spirit of my invention.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new and desire tosecure by Letters Patent, is

1. In a device for feeding can ends or the like, the combination of astack holder, means for supporting the stacked ends in said holder andreleasing said ends one by one, including a rotatable member having ahorizontal supporting ledge, said ledge being cut away to permit theends to drop from said member, and a separating plate 10- catedin aplane above said horizontal ledge and having a substantially radiallyprojecting separating edge extending over said ledge.

2. In a device for feeding can ends or the like, the combination of astack holder,

means for supporting the stacked ends in said holder andreleasing-saidends one by one, including a rotatable member having ahorizontal supporting ledge, said ledge being cut away to permit theends to drop from said member, and a removable hardened steel separatingplate located in aplane above said horizontal ledge and projecting overthe same.

3. In a device for feeding can ends or the like, the combination of; astack holder,

means for supporting the stacked ends 'in said holder and releasing saidends one by one, including a rotatable member having a horizontalsupporting ledge, said ledge being cut away to permit the ends to dropfrom said member, and a removable hardened steel separating platelocated in a plane above said horizontal ledge and projecting over thesame, said plate having a substantially radially projecting separatingedge.

4:. In a device for feeding can ends or the like, the combination of abracket, standards secured to the bracket for supporting a stack, atapered stud carried by the bracket, means whereby said stud may beadjusted toward and from the center of the stack, and a separatingdevice disposed opposite to said stud for engaging the other side of thecan ends, and for releasing one can end at a time.

5. In a device for feeding can ends or the like, the combination of abracket, standards secured to said bracket, a tapered stud carried byone of said standards for supporting one side of the stack of can ends,a separating device for engaging the other side of the can .ends forreleasing one can end at a time, and means for adjusting said standardcarrying said tapered stud, whereby said holder is adapted for differentsized can ends.

6. In a device for feeding can ends or the like, the combination of astack holder, means for supporting the stacked ends in said holder andreleasing said ends one by one, including a rotatable member having ahorizontal supporting ledge, said ledge being cut away to permit theends to drop from said member, a separating plate carried by said memberand located in .a plane parallel With and above said ledge, saidseparating plate having a substantially radially projecting separatingedge extending over said ledge, and said member having a tapered edgeeX- tending from said ledge to said separating plate for stripping thecan ends from said separating member.

In testimony whereof I affix my signature, in presence of tWo Witnesses.

IVAR F. IVARME.

Witnesses:

J. E. BnA'r'r, JAMES H. PORN.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressingthe Commissioner of Patents, Washington, D. G.

